Useful Poker Resources

A significant percentage of poker players play the game
purely for recreational purposes. They almost certainly do their
best to win whenever they are playing but they aren't overly
concerned if they lose money in the long run. They also don't
usually make it a priority to focus on improving their game, as
they simply want to be able to enjoy themselves.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with having this mindset.
Poker can be a very enjoyable and relatively inexpensive form of
entertainment, so it's perfectly reasonable to approach the game
with this attitude. For many people, however, the appeal of the
game is having the opportunity to win money from it
consistently. It's not easy, but it's certainly achievable for
anyone who is prepared to spend the necessary time and effort in
order to improve their chances of winning the game.

If you are a recreational poker player and interested in
taking your game to the next level and if you haven't already
done so, then we strongly recommend reading our guide to
becoming a winning poker player. You should also take a look
through this part of our website, where we look at the various
resources that can help you improve your overall chances of
winning the game.

Strategy Books

The most common way to make sure you are on the road to
success is to study all the strategy involved in the game. This
isn't something you can learn overnight but knowing even just a
little bit of basic strategy will significantly improve your
game.

Perhaps the best way to learn about poker strategy is to read
some books on the subject. There are hundreds of books that have
been written by successful poker players that were willing to
share their insight and knowledge, which could definitely help
you improve your game.

These books cover a broad spectrum of the various aspects of
poker strategy and all the different formats it can be played
in, so you are almost guaranteed to find something that's both
interesting and beneficial. If you're a beginner, you'll find a
great selection of books introducing the basics and there are
plenty of options if you're looking for something more advanced
too.

We'll soon be adding a new section to our poker guide where
we list and review a wide range of strategy books, so please
keep an eye out for that. For now, here's a list of some
recommended books for those relatively new to learning strategy.

The Theory of Poker (David Sklansky)

Getting Started in Hold'em (Edward Miller)

Small Stakes Hold'em (Edward Miller, Mason
Malmuth & David Sklansky)

Winning Low Limit Hold'em (Lee Jones)

Harrington on Hold'em (Dan Harrington)

Training Sites

A good alternative, or complement, to reading strategy books
is joining a poker training site. There are many of these in
existence that can vary greatly when it comes to quality but
most of them help you learn how to play the game in a more
visual way.

The basic principle of these sites is that they feature
videos of expert players playing online and explaining their
thought process for each decision they make. Watching these
videos can be a great way to gain real insight into the way top
players think, plus many training sites have other useful
features offered too.

Poker training sites won't necessarily work for everyone but
they definitely can be effective. Many of them offer a selection
of free videos you can watch before committing to a paid
subscription, so you have nothing to lose by checking a few of
these out. This gives you an opportunity to see if the site
could help you improve your game which will help you decide if
it's worth paying money for.

Personal Coaches

Taking one-on-one instruction from a personal coach is likely
to be more expensive than using a training site, but it can
prove to be money well spent. It's something we'd generally only
recommend to players who already have a background in poker
education, although even beginners can benefit from it.

Personal poker coaches use a variety of different methods to
teach you and help you to work on your game. Some will use
remote software that allows them to watch you while you play
online from your computer and both offer instant advice or give
you the option to go over your play at the end of the session.
Other sites will review your hand histories and provide advice
based on their findings. Some will even teach you a new playing
style, while others will simply look to highlight any weaknesses
in your game and try to fix them.

Software & Tools

Poker software can help you with your game in a variety of
ways. Tracking software, for example, records all the hands you
play online and makes it easier to discover any weakness in your
game. It can also help you study your opponents' tendencies.
Heads-up display software (HUD), which is used in conjunction
with tracking software, displays information you've collected
about your opponents on the screen while you are playing against
them so that you can make moves accordingly.

These are probably the most commonly used pieces of poker
software but there are many others too. These include odds
calculators, multi-tabling tools, record-keeping tools, and
display customization software. At some point in the future
we'll be adding a new section to the site, where we'll explain
all the software and tools available in more detail.

Online Forums

There are several poker forums on the internet, where poker
players go to discuss all kinds of poker related subjects. You
can glean a huge amount of information just by reading through
these and you can further benefit from them if you take the time
to sign up and get involved with the community.

For starters, you'll have somewhere to post any concerns or
questions, such as any specific strategy questions you may have
and get answers from other players who may be able to help.
You'll be able to get involved with strategy discussions started
by others, which can help with your own game or seek advice
about any weaknesses you've discovered in your game.

Basically, you'll have people to talk poker with anytime you
want to. If you are serious about making money from the game,
you should find this very useful in the long run. The best
online poker forum, in our opinion, is the
2+2 forum. We'd
highly recommend checking it out, even if it's just to see what
it's all about.

GamblingSites.org Poker Strategy Section

In addition to all the books that have been written about
poker strategy, there's also a great deal of strategy content
available on the web. There are loads of sites dedicated
entirely to the subject and also sites that cover the subject as
part of a greater resource. GamblingSites.org is an excellent
example of a site that has those qualities, and in our
admittedly biased opinion, it's one of the very best resources
for you. We have a huge poker strategy section, written and
compiled by experienced players, that offers a comprehensive
selection of information and advice on many different aspects of
the game.

If you're looking for a free, but still valuable, poker
resource, you truly won't come across a better site than
our poker
strategy guide.